There was a large brown desk in Sanders's study, a desk the edges of which had been worn yellow with constant rubbing. It was a very tidy desk, with two rows of books neatly1 grouped on the left and on the right, and held in place by brass2 rails. There were three tiers of wire baskets, a great white blotting-pad, a silver inkstand and four clean-looking pens.
Lately, there had appeared a glass vase filled with flowers which were daily renewed. Except on certain solemn occasions, none intruded5 into this holy of holies. It is true that a change had been brought about by the arrival of Patricia Hamilton, for she had been accorded permission to use the study as she wished, and she it was who had introduced the floral decorations.
Yet, such was the tradition of sanctuary7 which enveloped8 the study, that neither Captain Hamilton, her brother, nor Bones, her slave, had ever ventured to intrude4 thither9 in search of her, and if by chance they came to the door to speak to her, they unaccountably lowered their voices.
On a certain summer morning, Hamilton sat at the desk, a stern and sober figure, and Bones, perspiring10 and rattled11, sat on the edge of a chair facing him.
The occasion was a solemn one, for Bones was undergoing his examination in subjects "X" and "Y" for promotion12 to the rank of Captain. The particular subject under discussion was "Map Reading and Field Sketching," and the inquisition was an oral one.
"Lieutenant13 Tibbetts," said Hamilton gravely, "you will please define a Base Line."
Bones pushed back the hair straggling over his forehead, and blinked rapidly in an effort of memory.
"A base line, dear old officer?" he repeated. "A base line, dear old Ham----"
"Restrain your endearing terms," said Hamilton, "you won't get any extra marks for 'em."
"A base line?" mused14 Bones; then, "Whoop15! I've got it! God bless your jolly old soul! I thought I'd foozled it. A base line," he said loudly, "is the difference of level between two adjacent contours. How's that, umpire?"
"Wrong," said Hamilton; "you're describing a Vertical16 Interval17."
Bones glared at him.
"Are you sure, dear old chap?" he demanded truculently18. "Have a look at the book, jolly old friend, your poor old eyes ain't what they used to be----"
"Lieutenant Tibbetts," said Hamilton in ponderous19 reproof20, "you are behaving very strangely."
"Look here, dear old Ham," wheedled21 Bones "can't you pretend you asked me what a Vertical Interval was?"
Hamilton reached round to find something to throw, but this was Sanders's study.
"You have a criminal mind, Bones," he said helplessly. "Now get on with it. What are 'Hachures'?"
"Hachures?" said Bones, shutting his eye. "Hachures? Now I know what Hachures are. A lot of people would think they were chickens, but I know ... they're a sort of line ... when you're drawing a hill ... wiggly-waggly lines ... you know the funny things ... a sort of...." Bones made mysterious and erratic22 gestures in the air, "shading ... water, dear old friend."
"Are you feeling faint?" asked Hamilton, jumping up in alarm.
"No, silly ass3 ... shadings ... direction of water--am I right, sir?"
"Not being a thought-reader I can't visualize23 your disordered mind," said Hamilton, "but Hachures are the conventional method of representing hill features by shading in short vertical lines to indicate the slope and the water flow. I gather that you have a hazy24 idea of what the answer should be."
"I thank you, dear old sir, for that generous tribute to my grasp of military science," said Bones. "An' now proceed to the next torture--which will you have, sir, rack or thumbscrew?--oh, thank you, Horace, I'll have a glass of boiling oil."
"Shut up talking to yourself," growled25 Hamilton, "and tell me what is meant by 'Orienting a Map'?"
"Turning it to the east," said Bones promptly26. "Next, sir."
"What is meant by 'Orienting a Map'?" asked Hamilton patiently.
"I've told you once," said Bones defiantly27.
"Orienting a Map," said Hamilton, "as I have explained to you a thousand times, means setting your map or plane-table so that the north line lies north."
"In that case, sir," said Bones firmly, "the east line would be east, and I claim to have answered the question to your entire satisfaction."
"Continue to claim," snarled28 Hamilton. "I shall mark you zero for that answer."
"Make it one," pleaded Bones. "Be a sport, dear old Ham--I've found a new fishin' pool."
Hamilton hesitated.
"There never are any fish in the pools you find," he said dubiously29. "Anyway, I'll reserve my decision until I've made a cast or two."
They adjourned30 for tiffin soon after.
"How did you do, Bones?" asked Patricia Hamilton.
"Fine," said Bones enthusiastically; "I simply bowled over every question that your dear old brother asked. In fact, Ham admitted that I knew much more about some things than he did."
"What I said," corrected Hamilton, "was that your information on certain subjects was so novel that I doubted whether even the staff college shared it."
"It's the same thing," said Bones.
"You should try him on military history," suggested Sanders dryly. "I've just been hearing from Bosambo----"
Bones coughed and blushed.
"The fact is, sir an' Excellency," he confessed, "I was practisin' on Bosambo. You mightn't be aware of the fact, but I like to hear myself speak----"
"No!" gasped31 Hamilton in amazement32, "you're wronging yourself, Bones!"
"What I mean, sir," Bones went on with dignity, "is that if I lecture somebody on a subject I remember what I've said."
"Always providing that you understand what you're saying," suggested Hamilton.
"Anyway," said Sanders, with his quiet smile, "Bones has filled Bosambo with a passionate33 desire to emulate34 Napoleon, and Bosambo has been making tentative inquiries35 as to whether he can raise an Old Guard or enlist36 a mercenary army."
"I flatter myself----" began Bones.
"Why not?" said Hamilton, rising. "It's the only chance you'll have of hearing something complimentary37 about yourself."
"_I_ believe in you, Bones," said a smiling Patricia. "I think you're really wonderful, and that Ham is a brute38."
"I'll never, never contradict you, dear Miss Patricia," said Bones; "an' after the jolly old Commissioner39 has gone----"
"You're not going away again, are you?" she asked, turning to Sanders. "Why, you have only just come back from the interior."
There was genuine disappointment in her eyes, and Sanders experienced a strange thrill the like of which he had never known before.
"Yes," he said with a nod. "There is a palaver40 of sorts in the Morjaba country--the most curious palaver I have ever been called upon to hold."
And indeed he spoke41 the truth.
Beyond the frontiers of the Akasava, and separated from all the other Territories by a curious bush belt which ran almost in a straight line for seventy miles, were the people of Morjaba. They were a folk isolated42 from territorial43 life, and Sanders saw them once every year and no more frequently, for they were difficult to come by, regular payers of taxes and law-abiding, having quarrels with none. The bush (reputedly the abode44 of ghosts) was, save at one point, impenetrable. Nature had plaited a natural wall on one side, and had given the tribe the protection of high mountains to the north and a broad swamp to the west.
The fierce storms of passion and hate which burst upon the river at intervals45 and sent thousands of spears to a blooding, were scarcely echoed in this sanctuary-land. The marauders of the Great King's country to the north never fetched across the smooth moraine of the mountains, and the evil people of The-Land-beyond-the-Swamp were held back by the treacherous46 bogland wherein, _cala-cala_, a whole army had been swallowed up.
Thus protected, the Morjabian folk grew fat and rich. The land was a veritable treasure of Nature, and it is a fact that in the dialect they speak, there is no word which means "hunger."[5]
[Footnote 5: It is as curious a fact that amongst the majority of cannibal people there is no equivalent for "thank you."--E. W.]
Yet the people of the Morjaba were not without their crises.
S'kobi, the stout47 chief, held a great court which was attended by ten thousand people, for at that court was to be concluded for ever the feud48 between the M'gimi and the M'joro--a feud which went back for the greater part of fifty years.
The M'gimi were the traditional warrior49 tribe, the bearers of arms, and, as their name ("The High Lookers") implied, the proudest and most exclusive of the people. For every man was the descendant of a chief, and it was "easier for fish to walk," as the saying goes, than for a man of the M'joro ("The Diggers") to secure admission to the caste. Three lateral50 cuts on either cheek was the mark of the M'gimi--wounds made, upon the warrior's initiation51 to the order, with the razor-edged blade of a killing-spear. They lived apart in three camps to the number of six thousand men, and for five years from the hour of their initiation they neither married nor courted. The M'gimi turned their backs to women, and did not suffer their presence in their camps. And if any man departed from this austere52 rule he was taken to the Breaking Tree, his four limbs were fractured, and he was hoisted53 to the lower branches, between which a litter was swung, and his regiment54 sat beneath the tree neither eating, drinking nor sleeping until he died. Sometimes this was a matter of days. As for the woman who had tempted55 his eye and his tongue, she was a witness.
Thus the M'gimi preserved their traditions of austerity. They were famous walkers and jumpers. They threw heavy spears and fought great sham-fights, and they did every violent exercise save till the ground.
This was the sum and substance of the complaint which had at last come to a head.
S'gono, the spokesman of The Diggers, was a headman of the inner lands, and spoke with bitter prejudice, since his own son had been rejected by the M'gimi captains as being unworthy.
"Shall we men dig and sow for such as these?" he asked. "Now give a judgment56, King! Every moon we must take the best of our fruit and the finest of our fish. Also so many goats and so much salt, and it is swallowed up."
"Yet if I send them away," said the king, "how shall I protect this land against the warriors57 of the Akasava and the evil men of the swamp? Also of the Ochori, who are four days' march across good ground?"
"Lord King," said S'gono, "are there no M'gimi amongst us who have passed from the camp and have their women and their children? May not these take the spear again? And are not we M'joro folk men? By my life! I will raise as many spears from The Diggers and captain them with M'joro men--this I could do between the moons and none would say that you were not protected. For we are men as bold as they."
The king saw that the M'gimi party was in the minority. Moreover, he had little sympathy with the warrior caste, for his beginnings were basely rooted in the soil, and two of his sons had no more than scraped into the M'gimi.
"This thing shall be done," said the king, and the roar of approval which swept up the little hillock on which he sat was his reward.
Sanders, learning something of these doings, had come in haste, moving across the Lower Akasava by a short cut, risking the chagrin58 of certain chiefs and friends who would be shocked and mortified59 by his apparent lack of courtesy in missing the ceremonious call which was their due.
But his business was very urgent, otherwise he would not have travelled by Nobolama--The-River-that-comes-and-goes.
He was fortunate in that he found deep water for the _Wiggle_ as far as the edge of this pleasant land. A two days' trek60 through the forest brought him to the great city of Morjaba. In all the Territories there was no such city as this, for it stretched for miles on either hand, and indeed was one of the most densely61 populated towns within a radius62 of five hundred miles.
S'kobi came waddling63 to meet his governor with maize64, plucked in haste from the gardens he passed, and salt, grabbed at the first news of Sanders's arrival, in his big hands. These he extended as he puffed65 to where Sanders sat at the edge of the city.
"Lord," he wheezed66, "none came with news of this great honour, or my young men would have met you, and my maidens67 would have danced the road flat with their feet. Take!"
Sanders extended both palms and received the tribute of salt and corn, and solemnly handed the crushed mess to his orderly.
"O S'kobi," he said, "I came swiftly to make a secret palaver with you, and my time is short."
"Lord, I am your man," said S'kobi, and signalled his councillors and elder men to a distance.
Sanders was in some difficulty to find a beginning.
"You know, S'kobi, that I love your people as my children," he said, "for they are good folk who are faithful to government and do ill to none."
"Wa!" said S'kobi.
"Also you know that spearmen and warriors I do not love, for spears are war and warriors are great lovers of fighting."
"Lord, you speak the truth," said the other, nodding, "therefore in this land I will have made a law that there shall be no spears, save those which sleep in the shadow of my hut. Now well I know why you have come to make this palaver, for you have heard with your beautiful long ears that I have sent away my fighting regiments68."
Sanders nodded.
"You speak truly, my friend," he said, and S'kobi beamed.
"Six times a thousand spears I had--and, lord, spears grow no corn. Rather are they terrible eaters. And now I have sent them to their villages, and at the next moon they should have burnt their fine war-knives, but for a certain happening. We folk of Morjaba have no enemies, and we do good to all. Moreover, lord, as you know, we have amongst us many folk of the Isisi, of the Akasava and the N'gombi, also men from the Great King's land beyond the High Rocks, and the little folk from The-Land-beyond-the-Swamp. Therefore, who shall attack us since we have kinsmen69 of all amongst us?"
Sanders regarded the jovial70 king with a sad little smile.
"Have I done well by all men?" he asked quietly. "Have I not governed the land so that punishment comes swiftly to those who break the law? Yet, S'kobi, do not the Akasava and the Isisi, the N'gombi and the Lower River folk take their spears against me? Now I tell you this which I have discovered. In all beasts great and little there are mothers who have young ones and fathers who fight that none shall harass71 the mother."
"Lord, this is the way of life," said S'kobi.
"It is the way of the Bigger Life," said Sanders, "and greatly the way of man-life. For the women bring children to the land and the men sit with their spears ready to fight all who would injure their women. And so long as life lasts, S'kobi, the women will bear and the men will guard; it is the way of Nature, and you shall not take from men the desire for slaughter72 until you have dried from the hearts of women the yearning73 for children."
"Lord," said S'kobi, a fat man and easily puzzled, "what shall be the answer to this strange riddle74 you set me?"
"Only this," said Sanders rising, "I wish peace in this land, but there can be no peace between the leopard75 who has teeth and claws and the rabbit who has neither tooth nor claw. Does the leopard fight the lion or the lion the leopard? They live in peace, for each is terrible in his way, and each fears the other. I tell you this, that you live in love with your neighbours not because of your kindness, but because of your spears. Call them back to your city, S'kobi."
The chief's large face wrinkled in a frown.
"Lord," he said, "that cannot be, for these men have marched away from my country to find a people who will feed them, for they are too proud to dig the ground."
"Oh, damn!" said Sanders in despair, and went back the way he came, feeling singularly helpless.
The Odyssey76 of the discarded army of the Morjaba has yet to be written. Paradoxically enough, its primary mission was a peaceful one, and when it found first the frontiers of the Akasava and then the river borders of the Isis closed against it, it turned to the north in an endeavour to find service under the Great King, beyond the mountains. Here it was repulsed77 and its pacific intentions doubted. The M'gimi formed a camp a day's march from the Ochori border, and were on the thin line which separates unemployment from anarchy78 when Bosambo, Chief of the Ochori, who had learnt of their presence, came upon the scene.
Bosambo was a born politician. He had the sense of opportunity and that strange haze79 of hopeful but indefinite purpose which is the foundation of the successful poet and statesman, but which, when unsuccessfully developed, is described as "temperament80."
Bones, paying a business call upon the Ochori, found a new township grown up on the forest side of the city. He also discovered evidence of discontent in Bosambo's harassed81 people, who had been called upon to provide fish and meal for the greater part of six thousand men who were too proud to work.
"Master," said Bosambo, "I have often desired such an army as this, for my Ochori fighters are few. Now, lord, with these men I can hold the Upper River for your King, and Sandi and none dare speak against him. Thus would N'poloyani, who is your good friend, have done."
"But who shall feed these men, Bosambo?" demanded Bones hastily.
"All things are with God," replied Bosambo piously82.
Bones collected all the available information upon the matter and took it back to headquarters.
"H'm," said Sanders when he had concluded his recital83, "if it were any other man but Bosambo ... you would require another battalion84, Hamilton."
"But what has Bosambo done?" asked Patricia Hamilton, admitted to the council.
"He is being Napoleonic," said Sanders, with a glance at the youthful authority on military history, and Bones squirmed and made strange noises. "We will see how it works out. How on earth is he going to feed them, Bones?"
"Exactly the question I asked, sir an' Excellency," said Bones in triumph. "'Why, you silly old ass----'"
"I beg your pardon!" exclaimed the startled Sanders.
"That is what I said to Bosambo, sir," explained Bones hastily. "'Why, you silly old ass,' I said, 'how are you going to grub 'em?' 'Lord Bones,' said Bosambo, 'that's the jolly old problem that I'm workin' out.'"
How Bosambo worked out his problem may be gathered.
"There is some talk of an Akasava rising," said Sanders at breakfast one morning. "I don't know why this should be, for my information is that the Akasava folk are fairly placid85."
"Where does the news come from, sir?" asked Hamilton.
"From the Isisi king--he's in a devil of a funk, and has begged Bosambo to send him help."
That help was forthcoming in the shape of Bosambo's new army, which arrived on the outskirts87 of the Isisi city and sat in idleness for a month, at the end of which time the people of the Isisi represented to their king that they would, on the whole, prefer war to a peace which put them on half rations6 in order that six thousand proud warriors might live on the fat of the land.
The M'gimi warriors marched back to the Ochori, each man carrying a month's supply of maize and salt, wrung88 from the resentful peasants of the Isisi.
Three weeks after, Bosambo sent an envoy89 to the King of the Akasava.
"Let no man know this, Gubara, lest it come to the ears of Sandi, and you, who are very innocent, be wrongly blamed," said the envoy solemnly. "Thus says Bosambo: It has come to my ears that the N'gombi are secretly arming and will very soon send a forest of spears against the Akasava. Say this to Gubara, that because my stomach is filled with sorrow I will help him. Because I am very powerful, because of my friendship with Bonesi and his cousin, N'poloyani, who is also married to Bonesi's aunt, I have a great army which I will send to the Akasava, and when the N'gombi hear of this they will send away their spears and there will be peace."
The Akasava chief, a nervous man with the memory of all the discomforts90 which follow tribal91 wars, eagerly assented92. For two months Bosambo's army sat down like a cloud of locusts93 and ate the Akasava to a condition bordering upon famine.
At the end of that time they marched to the N'gombi country, news having been brought by Bosambo's messengers that the Great King was crossing the western mountains with a terrible army to seize the N'gombi forests. How long this novel method of provisioning his army might have continued may only be guessed, for in the midst of Bosambo's plans for maintaining an army at the expense of his neighbours there was a great happening in the Morjaba country.
S'kobi, the fat chief, had watched the departure of his warriors with something like relief. He was gratified, moreover (native-like), by the fact that he had confounded Sanders. But when the Commissioner had gone and S'kobi remembered all that he had said, a great doubt settled like a pall94 upon his mind. For three days he sat, a dejected figure, on the high carved stool of state before his house, and at the end of that time he summoned S'gono, the M'joro.
"S'gono," said he, "I am troubled in my stomach because of certain things which our lord Sandi has said."
Thereupon he told the plebeian95 councillor much of what Sanders had said.
"And now my M'gimi are with Bosambo of the Ochori, and he sells them to this people and that for so much treasure and food."
"Lord," said S'gono, "is my word nothing? Did I not say that I would raise spears more wonderful than the M'gimi? Give me leave, King, and you shall find an army that shall grow in a night. I, S'gono, son of Mocharlabili Yoka, say this!"
So messengers went forth86 to all the villages of the Morjaba calling the young men to the king's hut, and on the third week there stood on a plateau beneath the king's palaver house a most wonderful host.
"Let them march across the plain and make the Dance of Killing," said the satisfied king, and S'gono hesitated.
"Lord King," he pleaded, "these are new soldiers, and they are not yet wise in the ways of warriors. Also they will not take the chiefs I gave them, but have chosen their own, so that each company have two leaders who say evil things of one another."
S'kobi opened his round eyes.
"The M'gimi did not do this," he said dubiously, "for when their captains spoke they leapt first with one leg and then with the other, which was beautiful to see and very terrifying to our enemies."
"Lord," begged the agitated96 S'gono, "give me the space of a moon and they shall leap with both legs and dance in a most curious manner."
A spy retailed97 this promise to a certain giant chief of the Great King who was sitting on the Morjaba slopes of the mountains with four thousand spears, awaiting a favourable98 moment to ford99 the river which separated him from the rich lands of the northern Morjaba.
This giant heard the tidings with interest.
"Soon they shall leap without heads," he said, "for without the M'gimi they are little children. For twenty seasons we have waited, and now comes our fine night. Go you, B'furo, to the Chief of The-Folk-beyond-the-Swamp and tell him that when he sees three fires on this mountain he shall attack across the swamp by the road which he knows."
It was a well-planned campaign which the Great King's generals and the Chief of The-People-beyond-the-Marsh100 had organized. With the passing of the warrior caste the enemies of the Morjaba had moved swiftly. The path across the swamp had been known for years, but the M'gimi had had one of their camps so situated101 that no enemy could debouch102 across, and had so ordered their dispositions103 that the northern river boundary was automatically safeguarded.
Now S'gono was a man of the fields, a grower and seller of maize and a breeder of goats. And he had planned his new army as he would plan a new garden, on the basis that the nearer the army was to the capital, the easier it was to maintain. In consequence the river-ford was unguarded, and there were two thousand spears across the marshes104 before a scared minister of war apprehended105 any danger.
He flung his new troops against the Great King's chief captain in a desperate attempt to hold back the principal invader106. At the same time, more by luck than good generalship, he pushed the evil people of the marsh back to their native element.
For two days the Morjaba fought desperately107 if unskilfully against the seasoned troops of the Great King, while messengers hurried east and south, seeking help.
Bosambo's intelligence department may have shown remarkable108 prescience in unearthing109 the plot against the peace and security of the Morjaba, or it may have been (and this is Sanders's theory) that Bosambo was on his way to the Morjaba with a cock and bull story of imminent110 danger. He was on the frontier when the king's messenger came, and Bosambo returned with the courier to treat in person.
"Five thousand loads of corn I will give you, Bosambo," said the king, "also a hundred bags of salt. Also two hundred women who shall be slaves in your house."
There was some bargaining, for Bosambo had no need of slaves, but urgently wanted goats. In the end he brought up his hirelings, and the people of the Morjaba city literally111 fell on the necks of the returned M'gimi.
The enemy had forced the northern defences and were half-way to the city when the M'gimi fell upon their flank.
The giant chief of the Great King's army saw the ordered ranks of the old army driving in his flank, and sent for his own captain.
"Go swiftly to our lord, the King, and say that I am a dead man."
He spoke no more than the truth, for he fell at the hand of Bosambo, who made a mental resolve to increase his demand on the herds112 of S'kobi in consequence.
For the greater part of a month Bosambo was a welcome visitor, and at the end of that time he made his preparations to depart.
Carriers and herdsmen drove or portered his reward back to the Ochori country, marching one day ahead of the main body.
The M'gimi were summoned for the march at dawn, but at dawn Bosambo found himself alone on the plateau, save for the few Ochori headmen who had accompanied him on his journey.
"Lord," said S'kobi, "my fine soldiers do not go with you, for I have seen how wise is Sandi who is my father and my mother."
Bosambo choked, and as was usual in moments of intense emotion, found refuge in English.
"Dam' nigger!" he said wrathfully, "I bring um army, I feed um, I keep um proper--you pinch um! Black t'ief! Pig! You bad feller! I speak you bad for N'poloyani--him fine feller."
"Lord," said the uncomprehending king, "I see that you are like Sandi for you speak his tongue. He also said 'Dam' very loudly. I think it is the word white folk say when they are happy."
Bosambo met Bones hurrying to the scene of the fighting, and told his tale.
"Lord," said he in conclusion, "what was I to do, for you told nothing of the ways of N'poloyani when his army was stolen from him. Tell me now, Tibbetti, what this man would have done."
But Bones shook his head severely113.
"This I cannot tell you, Bosambo," he said, "for if I do you will tell others, and my lord N'poloyani will never forgive me."
收听单词发音 |
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neatly
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brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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ass
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| n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人 | |
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intrude
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| vi.闯入；侵入；打扰，侵扰 | |
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intruded
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| n.侵入的，推进的v.侵入，侵扰，打扰( intrude的过去式和过去分词 )；把…强加于 | |
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rations
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| 定量( ration的名词复数 )； 配给量； 正常量； 合理的量 | |
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sanctuary
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| n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区 | |
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enveloped
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thither
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perspiring
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rattled
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promotion
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| n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传 | |
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lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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mused
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whoop
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| n.大叫，呐喊，喘息声；v.叫喊，喘息 | |
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vertical
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| adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置 | |
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interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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truculently
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ponderous
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| adj.沉重的，笨重的，(文章)冗长的 | |
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reproof
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| n.斥责，责备 | |
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21
wheedled
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| v.骗取（某物），哄骗（某人干某事）( wheedle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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erratic
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| adj.古怪的，反复无常的，不稳定的 | |
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visualize
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| vt.使看得见，使具体化，想象，设想 | |
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hazy
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| adj.有薄雾的，朦胧的；不肯定的，模糊的 | |
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growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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defiantly
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| adv.挑战地，大胆对抗地 | |
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snarled
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的过去式和过去分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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dubiously
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| adv.可疑地，怀疑地 | |
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30
adjourned
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| （使）休会， （使）休庭( adjourn的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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31
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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34
emulate
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| v.努力赶上或超越，与…竞争；效仿 | |
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inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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36
enlist
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| vt.谋取(支持等)，赢得；征募；vi.入伍 | |
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complimentary
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| adj.赠送的，免费的，赞美的，恭维的 | |
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38
brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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39
commissioner
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| n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员 | |
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40
palaver
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| adj.壮丽堂皇的；n.废话，空话 | |
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41
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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42
isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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43
territorial
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| adj.领土的，领地的 | |
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44
abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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45
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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46
treacherous
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| adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的 | |
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feud
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| n.长期不和；世仇；v.长期争斗；世代结仇 | |
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49
warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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lateral
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| adj.侧面的，旁边的 | |
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51
initiation
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| n.开始 | |
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austere
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| adj.艰苦的；朴素的，朴实无华的；严峻的 | |
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hoisted
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| 把…吊起，升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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58
chagrin
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| n.懊恼；气愤；委屈 | |
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59
mortified
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| v.使受辱( mortify的过去式和过去分词 )；伤害（人的感情）；克制；抑制（肉体、情感等） | |
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trek
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| vi.作长途艰辛的旅行；n.长途艰苦的旅行 | |
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densely
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| ad.密集地；浓厚地 | |
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radius
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| n.半径，半径范围；有效航程，范围，界限 | |
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63
waddling
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| v.（像鸭子一样）摇摇摆摆地走( waddle的现在分词 ) | |
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maize
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| n.玉米 | |
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puffed
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| adj.疏松的v.使喷出( puff的过去式和过去分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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wheezed
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| v.喘息，发出呼哧呼哧的喘息声( wheeze的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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67
maidens
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| 处女( maiden的名词复数 )； 少女； 未婚女子； （板球运动）未得分的一轮投球 | |
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regiments
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| （军队的）团( regiment的名词复数 )； 大量的人或物 | |
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69
kinsmen
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| n.家属，亲属( kinsman的名词复数 ) | |
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jovial
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| adj.快乐的，好交际的 | |
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71
harass
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| vt.使烦恼，折磨，骚扰 | |
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72
slaughter
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| n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀 | |
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73
yearning
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| a.渴望的；向往的；怀念的 | |
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74
riddle
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| n.谜，谜语，粗筛；vt.解谜，给…出谜，筛，检查，鉴定，非难，充满于；vi.出谜 | |
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75
leopard
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| n.豹 | |
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76
odyssey
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| n.长途冒险旅行；一连串的冒险 | |
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repulsed
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| v.击退( repulse的过去式和过去分词 )；驳斥；拒绝 | |
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78
anarchy
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| n.无政府状态；社会秩序混乱，无秩序 | |
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79
haze
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| n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊 | |
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80
temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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81
harassed
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| adj. 疲倦的，厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词 | |
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82
piously
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| adv.虔诚地 | |
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83
recital
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| n.朗诵，独奏会，独唱会 | |
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84
battalion
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| n.营；部队；大队(的人) | |
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85
placid
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| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
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86
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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87
outskirts
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| n.郊外，郊区 | |
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88
wrung
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| 绞( wring的过去式和过去分词 )； 握紧（尤指别人的手）； 把（湿衣服）拧干； 绞掉（水） | |
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89
envoy
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| n.使节，使者，代表，公使 | |
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discomforts
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| n.不舒适( discomfort的名词复数 )；不愉快，苦恼 | |
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tribal
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| adj.部族的，种族的 | |
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92
assented
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| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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93
locusts
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| n.蝗虫( locust的名词复数 )；贪吃的人；破坏者；槐树 | |
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pall
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| v.覆盖，使平淡无味；n.柩衣，棺罩；棺材；帷幕 | |
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95
plebeian
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| adj.粗俗的；平民的；n.平民；庶民 | |
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96
agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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97
retailed
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| vt.零售（retail的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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98
favourable
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| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
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99
Ford
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| n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过 | |
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100
marsh
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| n.沼泽，湿地 | |
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101
situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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102
debouch
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| v.流出，进入 | |
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103
dispositions
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| 安排( disposition的名词复数 )； 倾向； （财产、金钱的）处置； 气质 | |
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104
marshes
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| n.沼泽，湿地( marsh的名词复数 ) | |
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105
apprehended
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| 逮捕，拘押( apprehend的过去式和过去分词 )； 理解 | |
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106
invader
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| n.侵略者，侵犯者，入侵者 | |
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107
desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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108
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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109
unearthing
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| 发掘或挖出某物( unearth的现在分词 )； 搜寻到某事物，发现并披露 | |
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110
imminent
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| adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的 | |
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111
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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112
herds
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| 兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众 | |
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113
severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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